On Her Own: Sarah Baker
by luvrgrl14
Summary: Sarah Baker gets kicked out of her house and runs to Lake Winnetka, where she feels she can get some needed time off from her family. But half-way up, she remembers that, in the summer, Elliot and his family also reside at the Lake. Sarah/Elliot
1. The Beginning of the End

A/N: This si my first story! Please R&R! BTW, this takes place about 3 years after the second Cheaper By The Dozen movie. Sarah is fifteen. If anyone sees anything that contradicts the movies, please tell me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Cheaper By The Dozen, Kate, Tom, Sarah, Jake, Kyle, Jessica, Nigel, Charlie, ect., ect. I wish I did, but...oh well. However, I do own the general storyline. No infringment was intended

Sarah Baker slammed her bedroom door shut behind Jake after another nasty fight with her mother and father. There were more and more of those these days, she realized. Right before she figured out that she didn't care.

It was hard enough being the5th child out of twelve and getting picked on by your older siblings and annoyed by the younger ones, but when you add mom and dad in your face all the time, its just too much. So Sarah had taken to chilling in her room a lot more lately. Lacrosse season was over, school had been out for a week or two, causing most of her friends to leave town for a few months, and she was more bored than she thought she could ever be. Being bored got her in trouble. And it usually involved pain for one of her other siblings. After all, she had a title to keep up.

This time, she had duct-taped Mike to the outside wall of the house, upside down, and she and Jake had used him as a human target for paintball. Mike had been fine for the first few minutes, but then the stinging got worse…and worse…. So he had started screaming. Mom had come running, ripped the guns out of Sarah and Jake's hands, and pulled a very blue and orange Mike off of the wall. The two 'gunmen' had spent the next few hours scrubbing the wall where they had missed their target, scrubbing all of the paint out of his clothes, and then apologizing to him while he smirked evilly at them. He knew what was coming. The yelling.

Mom had sent Mike up to bed, and then she had called Sarah and Jake into the dining room where she and Tom were waiting. They started by asking whose idea it originally was, but they really hadn't needed to ask. Sarah was always the one to engineer these kinds of things, and she could get Jake along for the ride for anything she wanted too.

Neither Jake nor Sarah had uttered a word when asked who the mastermind was. They had merely stood side by side, hands at their sides, heads bowed. Jake would never tell on Sarah, because that was one of the first rules: you don't _ever _tell a parent on another sibling, no matter what happened or who did it. Sarah would never pin anything on Jake that didn't belong on him. Number one, that was just wrong, number two, it was a twisted way of breaking the rules. Sarah had written most of the rules and code herself, and she hadn't broken a single rule yet.

Kate and Tom had just looked at each other and sighed. They hadn't expected either child to tell, but it didn't matter. They knew.

"Jake, it's late. Go up to bed, and we will deal with you in the morning," Tom had told his son. "Goodnight."

"Night," Jake had muttered, and then stolen a glance at Sarah. When had she met his apologetic glance, she had smiled reassuringly at him, then looked away to stare straight ahead. Jake knew his sister didn't care about what happened to her, because her parents weren't too tough, but he did know she cared about how hard they came down on Jake. She was always looking out for him, because he was her closest friend among the 11 other Baker kids. They were closest in age, and he was her partner in crime. He had shaken his head slightly. She could take care of herself in front of their parents. He then had left the room, and walked up the steps, but took his shoes off at the top of the staircase, and had slid silently down the banister to sit quietly against the wall right outside the door to the living room.


	2. Packing up

Disclaimer: It's not mine. Im not trying to infringe

A/N: Sorry I haven't posted in a while...some MAJOR computer troubles...so here we go...

"Sarah, this is the third time this week that one of your younger siblings have gotten hurt at your hands. Two of those three times, it was Mike to get hurt! He has welts the size of golf balls all over his back and legs from those paintballs." That had been Kate, and she had been using The Voice again. The Voice was the one that she used when she was angry, but still had a handle on herself. This also meant that a single wrong word could set her off, and the Baker kids were a lot more careful around her when she was using The Voice.

"And the other time, Jessica ended up with red lines all over her from the cords you used to tie her to the ceiling fan! You can still see a few of them! Not to mention the minor concussion from her hitting the floor. Plus, now we need a new ceiling fan for the den!" That had been Tom, who had sounded quite exasperated with his darkly gifted daughter.

Sarah had snorted. "I wasn't trying to hurt her that time! I just wanted to see if it would hold her weight. Also, I did have pillows down, she just missed them! I didn't mean to hurt her, and she wasn't supposed to fall either. Maybe you should stop feeding her and the fan might be able to hold her up." She had started to get a mocking tone in her voice that Jake knew his parents hated.

"Don't use that tone with me young lady. This has to stop! Your siblings are getting hurt, and one day it's going to be permanent!" Kate's voice had risen just a little.

Sarah had bristled. "In all of the years I have been pranking my little brothers and sisters, not one of them has ever been seriously hurt! I know when to stop," she snarled. "Most of the time, they ask me to do something to them and then they decide they don't like it! You never let me explain my side of the story! Just because they are younger than me, they are automatically the poor little innocent ones. Did you ever stop to think that they might have asked for it? Or done something to me that completely invaded my privacy? Why do you think I taped Mike up to the house? He was digging through my stuff again. And he found my diary! Which he promptly read!" Sarah had started calmly, but had started to yell by the end, waking Kyle up.

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose when Kyle began to call for her from his bedroom. "Tom, could you handle this please? I need to go and talk to Kyle, and then I want to check on Mike." She had looked pleadingly at him, and he had nodded.

When Kate had walked out of the room, Jake flattened himself against the wall and she hadn't noticed him, nor had she noticed his shoes at the top of the steps. He had hoped that she wouldn't come back down, because she would definitely see him from the other way. He had then settled again to listen to his dad's conversation with his favorite sister.

"Sarah, please. This has got to stop." Tom's voice had been almost pleading. "This is ridiculous! People are getting hurt! Who's next? Nigel? Kyle? They're still 7 year olds! If they get hurt too badly, they could be permanently in pain, or paralyzed! I know that you would feel horrible if that happened."

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO YELL AT _ME_? DID YOU EVER CONSIDER THAT THEY MIGHT BE THE CAUSING OF THE PROBLEM ONCE IN A WHILE?" Sarah really _had_ been yelling then.

"DO NOT YELL AT ME, SARAH BAKER! I AM YOUR FATHER!" And, as her father, he hadn't been afraid to yell right back.

"MAYBE I DON'T NEED A FATHER! DID YOU EVER TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT I MIGHT BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT SOMEONE LIKE YOU OR MOM BREATHING DOWN MY NECK ALL THE TIME?"

Jake had frozen with his eyes wide. He had never heard her say anything like that before. It didn't make sense, because it was originally a pretty small argument, but she must be angrier than ever.

Tom had been silent for a moment, and then, so quiet that Jake could barely hear him, he had said, "Then maybe we don't need you here. I certainly wouldn't want to be infringing on your space. And I'm sure that the other kids would appreciate not having to live in fear of their necks for a little while." His voice had been hard to read. It was under control, but at the same time, terribly angry. Jake had never heard him like that. Next, his father had uttered the words Jake had least expected.

"Get out of this house, Sarah. Go on. You're fifteen. I'm sure you'll be fine. If you don't need your mother and me, I'm sure that you will be just fine on your own."

In the next few seconds, Sarah had come storming-no, _ripping-_through the doorway and slamming up the steps. At the top, she had halted for a second to stare at Jake's shoes. She had half turned and beckoned to him before continuing to her room. Jake had scrambled up from his hiding place and up to Sarah's room, where she had promptly slammed the door behind him.

"I know you heard the whole thing." Sarah stated calmly.

"Yeah, I did. So what are you going to do now?" Jake asked nervously.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Leaving, of course. I can't stay here. He told me to leave."

Jake put up one of his hands. "Hold up a minute there, Butch. Where would you go? And he didn't mean it. He was just upset."

Sarah shook her head ruefully. "No, Jake. You didn't see his face. He wanted to hit me. I could tell. We have been butting heads for forever now, and I guess this was just the final straw. For me, too. I can't take him or mom anymore. I don't know where I'm going. But I have to go somewhere. I'll figure it out. Now you need to get out. Get to your room and in bed before one of the parents sees you. I'll see you… well… sooner or later. I won't be gone for forever…probably. Goodnight, Jake. I love you."

Jake sighed. "I love you, too, Sarah. Good luck." With that, Sarah's favorite sibling left her room.

Sarah immediately grabbed her now-empty backpack and stuffed a few things in to it. A couple of changes of comfy summer clothes, a swimsuit, and some other necessities. She knew where she was going. She had known sense Charlie had moved up to Lake Winnetka that she wanted to move in with him if she ever ran away. She just didn't want Jake to know, in case of parental interrogation.

Her hand opened her cell phone and she dialed his number deftly with one thumb while her other hand shoved things into her backpack. When the phone began to ring, she put it against her head and cradled it with her shoulder so that she could zip up her bag.


	3. Making Plans and Getting Out

Disclaimer: I've said it before, here it is again

Disclaimer: I've said it before, here it is again. It ain't mine

"Hello?" Charlie's voice was a great sound to her welcoming ears.

"Hey, Charlie, it's me." Sarah was quiet so that she didn't alert her parents.

"Hey Butch! What's going on? I haven't heard from you in a while!" Charlie sounded genuinely happy to talk to her, so she jumped right in.

"Um, actually…not so great. Me and the parents have been fighting a lot lately. And… tonight was just the last straw I guess. Cause dad just kicked me out."

"Oh." Charlie understood where his little sister was coming from. He had often fought with his parents, especially his father, but he had never been kicked out. "It's ok, I promise. I know how you're feeling. Do you need a place to stay?" He was more than willing to open his place to her.

"Kinda. And I was wondering…if it wasn't too much trouble…if I could hang up there with you for a while?" The last part was a question, and she was very tentative.

"Of course you can come up here for a little while. Unfortunately, I can't come and get you down there. Could you take the train to the Winnetka Station? I could pick you up there. Then maybe you and I could do a little talking. I work a lot at the garage this summer, but you're fifteen, right? You can hold the fort at the house while I'm gone. Is that ok with you Butch?"

Sarah nodded before she realized he couldn't see her. "Of course that's ok! I'll be up there as soon as I can and I'll call you when I hit the station." She sounded confident and she was starting to get a little excited about her trip. She needed some time away.

"That's perfect. I'll see you when you get here."

"Ok. Thank you. Bye." Sarah snapped her phone closed and shoved it into her pocket. She grabbed her backpack, now full of the stuff she figured she would need at Charlie's, and slipped it over her shoulders. She the opened her bedroom door quietly and crept down the hallway to the steps. She could hear her parents talking in their bedroom, but all else was silent. She slid slowly down the banister and landed quietly at the bottom. At the front door of the house, she slipped on her sneakers and threw a favorite pair of flip-flops into her backpack. She grabbed a jacket off of the hook on the wall, but threw it into her backpack as well. It was about 65 degrees outside, but she knew it got cold up at the lake. Opening the front door just wide enough for her to squeeze through, she slipped into the summer night air and closed the door silently behind her.

She was very grateful that night that the train station wasn't too far from home. Thinking for a second, she grabbed her bike from the front yard and slipped her right leg over it. She figured she could probably bring it on the train because it wasn't too huge and not many people rode the train at 11 o' clock at night. She pushed off from her sidewalk, pulled out of the entrance to her yard, and pedaled down the street on her way to the train station. The wind on her face felt pretty good, and she was enjoying the feel of her muscles working to pedal her bike. When she finally pulled up to the train station, she dismounted her bike and left it parked outside behind the ticket building.

She walked cautiously into the brick building and up to the ticket booth. The attendant jerked his head up when Sarah rapped on the glass door between them.

"Just one ticket please, for the next express," Sarah said.

"Is that going to be a round trip ticket?" the attendant asked blearily. It was clear that he was still half asleep.

"Um, no. Just one way, please."

"Where to this late at night, and all alone?" Unfortunately, he was awake enough to realize how young she looked, and that she didn't have a parent.

"Just up to the Lake Winnetka station. I'm going to visit some relatives." That was as close to the truth as can be, Sarah thought. She was also relieved that she didn't have to lie.

"I see," he said. She handed him some money that she had grabbed from her room, and he handed her the ticket. "The next express isn't for about twenty minutes yet." The attendant added. "There is a café next door that's open all night, so you can wait in there for your train."

"K. Thanks." Sarah muttered as she took her change and ticket, shoved both in her pocket, and left the small building. Picking up her bike, she wheeled it to just outside the small café and left it where she could watch it through the window. Walking inside, she saw that no one was there but the waitress, who was busy cleaning what looked like a cappuccino machine. She walked up to the counter and the waitress looked up.

"Can I help you, honey?" the waitress asked kindly, but like she was talking to a 10 year old.

Sarah internally grimaced. "Um, could I just have a regular sized cappuccino?" She figured she might need something to keep her awake until she got up to Lake Winnetka. Plus, she enjoyed the feeling of caffeine in her system.

"Sure, hun. Just let me get this machine cleaned up, and I'll make one right up for you." The girl then returned to cleaning and reassembling the machine. Sarah plopped down on one of the chairs provided and looked at her watch. It was still only 11:23 and the train didn't come until 11:41. She shrugged and sat, bored, waiting for her cappuccino.


	4. Train Ride

Disclaimer: stuff isn't mine, storyline mostly is...

A/N: sorry this one is so short. I wanted to get SOMETHING up, but I didn't have a lot of time... I'll try to post again soon.

Finally, her cappuccino came, the waitress bringing it straight to the table Sarah was at. Sarah dug some money out of her pocket and handed it to her server. Breathing in the steam coming out of her cup, she stood, walked out the door of the café, grabbed her bike and waited on one of the benches for her train.

Leaning against the back and sipping at the cappuccino soothed her building nerves. Her stomach had begun to constrict and her muscles tighten with energy and nervousness. She took some deep calming breaths and just chilled on the bench, glancing at her watch from time to time. Finally, a minute and a half behind schedule, her train came through the tunnel a few hundred feet from the platform. While it was screeching to a stop, Sarah watched through the tinted windows and was glad to see that most of the train was empty. When it was finally still, she climbed the steps into one completely empty car and lifted her bike in after her.

She plopped down and stretched out into the seat, her backpack tossed next to her. When the conductor came around for her ticket, he glared at her bike for a moment, then punched a hole in her ticket and kept walking.

The ride passed mostly uneventfully. Sarah pulled out her iPod and sipped at her cappuccino for a while, keeping her mind clear. When she finally slipped into thought, she contemplated what she was going to do with her bright, promising summer.

_There's the lake, of course, _she thought. _Not to mention that Charlie's place isn't too far from Nora and Bud's vacation place. I guess that they're still in Huston. I know where the key is though. I could hang there…ohhhh… _when she thought about the house on the lake, of course she thought about the surrounding houses and their occupants, and that led her thoughts straight to the Murtaugh's. _ELLIOT! HE'S GOING TO BE THERE FOR THE SUMMER!! YESSS!! _ She was excited to remember that her summer love from previous years was going to be where she was going to be throughout the whole summer. She realized that she hadn't seen him since the two families had competed in the Labor Day Cup three years ago, and Nora had almost had her baby lakeside. Sarah smiled fondly at these memories.

_He must be…. Well… older of course, but… different. Maybe he'll have a girlfriend… _that thought sickened her. _Or maybe he just won't remember me… that'd be major suckage. _She shook herself and forced her mind to clear. Focusing in on her music, she turned it way up and drowned all thoughts from her mind.

When they hit the Winnetka station, Sarah yanked her now almost dead iPod out of her ears and shoved it back into her backpack. Grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders, she wheeled her bike out the front door of her train car and lifted it down the steps of the train. She dug her cell phone out of her back pocket and called Charlie, who was now number two on her speed dial.

"You here?" was the first thing Sarah heard when her big brother picked up the phone.

"Yeah, just got here," she replied happily.

He told her he'd be there in ten minutes and flipped his phone closed.


	5. Charlie Thinking Hard

**Disclaimer: sigh it's only the fifth chapter, and telling you it's not mine is already getting old…**

**A/N: I think this may be shorter than the last one… sorry! Again, no time. But I promise I'll post again soon!**

Charlie flipped his phone shut, walked outside of his garage to his car after closing down for the night, started it, and sighed. He was worried about Sarah. He knew that she could be a prankster, but he never figured it would get her kicked out of her house… Not to mention that she wasn't even upset. Most kids he knew, especially his siblings, would have called him sobbing or livid. Sarah hadn't sounded affected in any way. If anything, she had sounded… happy…

This lack of emotion made him a little nervous. What if she went passive-aggressive on him? What was he supposed to do then? The weight of the situation finally hit Charlie.

He had to take care of a fifteen-year-old girl. For an undetermined amount of time. One who was very mischievous and possibly passive-aggressive. He made plenty of money to support her. His garage had been running for a few years now, and it brought him more than enough. He would also never tell her to go back home, even if he had thought of these things in the beginning. She needed his help and he was her big brother. He had to help her.

He needed to work most days of the summer. He had Sunday's off, but not any other day. As the boss, he could take off a few days, but not many. He shrugged this problem off. She was fifteen, and she could more than take care of herself. Plus, she probably wasn't even going to spend much time cooped up in the house anyway. She'd probably be out at the lake, or up at Bud and Nora's house, which was empty for the month at least.

Still… he didn't know how to treat her. He'd never been a parent before. Even when he was just watching his younger siblings, he would hang out in his room unless someone started screaming. He wasn't sure how to handle a 'child' of his own, especially a teenage girl… He knew from dealing with girlfriends in previous years that girls were hard to understand, hard to deal with, and hard to coexists with. He was a little apprehensive about living with Sarah, but he figured he could handle it. Sarah had never been bad with stuff like that. She was more of a… well, tomboy somewhat, but also just fun to hang out with. Lorraine had been a different story, but Sarah had turned out almost the opposite of her older sister, and Charlie was glad of that. He loved Lorraine, but she had been hard to live with. Sarah hadn't been that way, and he hoped that would change.

About ten minutes later, he pulled up to the train station and saw one of his favorite siblings sitting on a bench waiting for him.


	6. Text Message Introduction

**Disclaimer: Do we honestly have to put these things on every chapter?? W/e. It's not mine.**

**A/N: Ok, this one is what's happening while Charlie is coming to get Sarah. And, this one has a few more words. I'm sorry, I've just been realllllly busy lately, and i haven't had much time. But thank you, thank you, thank you to those who reviewed!! It really gave me some inspiration to continue! I'll try to get the Elliot angle in soon!**

Sarah snapped her phone closed and sat down on a bench that face away from the tracks so that she could see Charlie coming. She looked at her phone for a minute, and then flipped it open and began to type a text message to…yup…you guessed it…Elliot. She didn't know if it would go through or not, because she didn't know if he had changed his phone number, but she figured it was worth a try. She knew he wouldn't recognize her number, because she had gotten a new phone last year for Christmas. The text message read:

_Elliot, if you can guess who this is, I'll give you…something the next time I see you, which will probably be soon. Sooner that it's been since I last saw you. We were friends then, I hope we still can be. We'll see. I promise I'm not a stalker or anything. You really did know me._

Sarah hit send and closed her phone. She figured he probably wouldn't be able to guess, which made the soon to be meeting that much sweeter. She got a few butterflies in her stomach, but pushed them away. She was Sarah Baker, Butch. She didn't get those dumb feelings for boys that Lorraine got. Sure, she had had them for Elliot when she was younger, but she was older now, and she hadn't had a crush since Elliot three years ago. She just wanted to be friends, just like she had said. I hope we can be friends again. _So there!_

She picked her head up from staring at her cell phone in time to see Charlie pull up to the train station and hop out of his car.

She left her bike and backpack near the bench and ran to him, hugging him enthusiastically. He "umfphed" when she ran into him then hugged her back.

"It's been almost a year, hasn't it, Butch?" Charlie hadn't been able to make it home fro Christmas, and Thanksgiving he had been at the Murtaugh's. He had been dating Anne for a few years now, and Sarah knew he was thinking of proposing, so he had wanted to get as close and friendly with her family as possible. Mom had been disappointed, but she had understood that he had wanted to be with Anne. Sarah was the only one to know about Charlie's engagement planning, and it had been an accident that she had found out.

"Yeah, I guess it has been… I've missed you," she replied.

"I've missed you, too. Get your stuff into the car and we'll head home."

Sarah ran back to where she had unceremoniously dumped her stuff to the ground and gathered it all up to put in the trunk of Charlie's car, including her bike.

"They let you take that on the train?" Charlie sounded shocked, and amused.

"Yeah, but it's also midnight. There was hardly anyone else on the train, so it wasn't in anyone's way. And I wanted it up here. I have to be able to get to the lake and back when you're at work."

"True. That's good. Get in. While we're driving, we need to talk about some stuff." Charlie sounded nervous, and Sarah wasn't worried about him getting mad for leaving the house. He had almost done it several times himself.

She opened the passenger door of Charlie's car and slid in, waiting for Charlie to get into the drivers seat.


	7. Rules and New House

**Disclaimer: (sigh) its not mine... really, i promise**

**A/N: Sorry for the lateness...i had a small knot of writer's block, but i think im past it...whatever...new post...sooner or later...  
**

Last Time:

_Get in. While we're driving, we need to talk about some stuff." Charlie sounded nervous, and Sarah wasn't worried about him getting mad for leaving the house. He had almost done it several times himself._

_ She opened the passenger door of Charlie's car and slid in, waiting for Charlie to get into the drivers seat._

Charlie slid in and started his car. He looked a little apprehensive, and Sarah got a little worried that he was regretting his decision to let her stay with him. He began with a simple statement:

"I'm really glad that you decided to come and stay with me. Um...I know exactly what your going through, because I went through it myself. But there are a couple things we need to talk about."

Sarah tensed. _This had SOOOO better not be a lecture, _she thought. "Ok, shoot."

"Number one, you need to know that its ok to be a little emotional about this. It's not a bad thing to be upset, or angry. And, if you want to talk about how you feel, whenever, you can talk to me, ok?"

"Yeah, sure, I know," Sarah said. she really didn't feel anything right now.

"Ok. Next, please try to keep pranks and all other mischief to a minimum while you're here. I really don't feel like explaining to anyone that I'm not your father and that I really can't account for any of the things that happen. And try not to mess up my house too much." He sounded a little playful with his last sentence, but Sarah knew that he was dead serious.

"That's fair enough. Agreed." Sarah was figuring that it would be easy to be a little more careful up here. And maybe a little more respectful.

"Next, I have to work a lot. I have Sunday's off because the garage is open on appointment only then. Now, as the boss, I can take off a few more days, but not too many. I thought that, since you're fifteen, you could probably take care of yourself alone while I'm gone, and I doubt that you'll even be spending much time at the house, so I don't think me being at work is going to be a problem. Is it?" He looked a little concerned.

Sarah smiled. "Nope. Like you said, i don't feel the need to spend an excessive amount of time in the house; I'll probably be up at the lake or something."

Charlie relaxed a little. "Good! Um, there's one more thing..." but he hesitated.

Sarah raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Well, it's just that...I really...I'm not sure... I've never tried to take care of a kid before..." He bit the inside of his lip. "You have always been pretty cool about girl stuff, not like your sister Lorraine, but I'm not going to be very good at this..."

Sarah laughed. "Charlie, it's cool. I can mostly take care of myself. And I really do try to avoid being like Lorraine. I'll take it easy on you. And, thank you, so much... for letting me come up and stay here, and letting me barge into your house."

Charlie shook his head. "You're my sister, Sarah! You're not barging in, you're just hanging out for a while. And we can just work together as best as we can!"

"That sounds good," Sarah said.

Just then, they pulled up to Charlie's house. The house was 100 wood, 1 story, and had been a fixer-upper when he had bought the place. Sarah hadn't seen the house in a while, and he had made some nice adjustments. The porch was new, as was the siding and the windows. Though it was pretty dark, it was easy to tell he had worked hard.

"Wow! The place looks great!" Sarah exclaimed when she saw it.

Charlie looked proud. "Thanks! I've also done some stuff inside. I have a guest room for you. Just leave your bike in the yard. It should be safe enough."

They got out of the car and Sarah grabbed both her bike and backpack, leaving the former on the ground and swinging the latter over her shoulder. Climbing the porch steps, Charlie unlocked the front door and shoved it open, holding out his hand to signal her in first.

"Don't go too far in, I don't want you to trip," Charlie told her. He slid past her and felt along the wall for the light switch and illuminated Sarah's new temporary home.


End file.
